Phosphate

#1
Okay so I have a 180ish gallon tank, and have done about 5 120 gallon water changes. with RO water. The phosphate is still high. is there another way to lower it. All other levels check out.
 

DyM

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
What are the levels at now? If you're really high, you could drip Latium Chloride to get it low, then use GFO, phosban, etc to keep it low.

Lanthanum chloride product I use is called seaklear, it's a pool product for Phosphates.

I went from between .5 and 1 using Salifert test kit to .03 in one day - remember .03 and below is ideal. Sorry to link to he evil RC, but this thread is where I learned about it. (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1474839&highlight=lanthanum+chloride) I have a dual BRS reactor (each one tube filled 1/2 with GFO) Tank has SPS, LPS, and softies... no issues.

From the thread, this is what I wrote.

read this whole string, a few times over, along with other research and decided to give Lanthanum chloride a try.

Ordered 5 micron filter socks and Seaklear, and started dripping last night.
I run a GFO, have a DSB, Micro Algae, ETSS 600 skimmer (rated for 300gal), and do water changes. Still PO4 was between .5 and 1 using Salifert test kit. Plenty of algae in the display and coral growth is nonexistent. I’ve known for some time something was wrong. I’ve dealt/solved the Nitrate issue, so here we go - to get PO4 down.

Total water volume is approx 80gal. (72gal display, 30gal sump/fuge). I started to drip 5ml of Sealkear in 2.5 liters of RO. From last night to this morning (7 hrs) around a liter dripped in. Tested this morning and down to around .03. Stopped dripping this morning and had to change out the filter sock. There was noticeable gunk and the filter was filled with water and almost at the point of overflowing. I put filter floss into the 5 micron sock to provide more surface area to catch the gunk. I don’t have water entering the sock from the return, but from the output of the GFO reactor. It was a convenient place for the filter.

I’ll test PO4 again when I get home, and continue to drip the rest of the solution. So far so good. I need to read again and figure out how to clean the filter sock as running it under hot water (reversed) didn’t seem to do anything.

Tested when I got home and was still at .03ppm. Dripped the rest of the solution in and results were PO4 was undetectable. I'll do a water change today, and change out the GFO. While doing the water change I'll blow the cryo or red slime algae off the rocks. Incredible how quick, and how potent a small amount of this stuff is. There was no cloudiness, or any other ill-effects on tangs, corals, crustations, or sponges. In my sump/fuge area, there is a lot of the yellow sponge and they were not affected.
 

09bumblebee

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
I know this is old but I've done a lot of reading on lanthanum and want to try it. The only thing holding me back is my inverts. 6 sexy shrimp, 1 anemone shrimp, 1 cleaner, couple emeralds. Will it effect them at all? I plan on dripping in my sump near the skimmer and running a 5 micron sock on the drain and skimmer output as I don't want any precipitate in the tank. I don't want to go back to gfo to expensive and tired of cleaning reactors on 2 tanks. I dose nopox or po4x for those that don't know what I'm talking about. But my rock is leaching it, it's almost at its end. I do 25% water changes every Sunday but can't seem to get ahead. Po4 is hanging at .09-.11
 

ReefCheif

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
Platinum Sponsor
#8
Strange Brian. I had similiar issues and I increased my weekly water changes to 30% and it seemed to do the trick, I cant find any phosphates present and am no longer having any algea issues, now if I could keep this damn aptasia under control Id be good to go!
 

ReefCheif

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
Platinum Sponsor
#10
Has anyone used this yet? Im intrigued.
 

09bumblebee

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#11
How effective is using po4 in a bag in an overflow? I know reactors are the best but just curious if it's effective?
 
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reefmaster719

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#12
Carbon works great since the water doesn't have to flow thru it. Only around it. The carbon acts as a magnet for toxins and odors.
 

09bumblebee

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#13
I run carbon through a reactor. Talking po4 here get it straight lol jk

Nvmnd got a reactor.
 

reefmaster719

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#15
Whoops. Forgot its phosphate issue.. phosban reactors are your friend!! #1 for dealing with po4.
 

09bumblebee

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#16
Dealt with that crap for years, tired of reactors lol. Po4x is working great on the 30 just not so much in the stocked 90
 

09bumblebee

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
Ok need to order filter socks which ones do I get? Polyester, polypropylene or nylon filter sock? Which ones are the best to clean?
 

DyM

Sting ray
M.A.S.C Club Member
#18
I can tell you for certain this will not effect your inverts. I have 2 fire shrimps, 1 arow crab, and 1 shrimp that looks like a boxer, can't remember the name. Never had a problem and I drip every month. Also don't see an issue if you put a sock on your drain, only problem is the socks for drains are about 100 microns so you can imagine a 5 micron sock will clog up in a day or two - without even dripping lanthanum. With using a 5 micron sock, lanthanum will not precipitate in the tank at all. I use the Polyester Filter Bags (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004F9KUA2/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00) but I personally feel it doesn't matter which type you use, so polypropylene or nylon should work just fine.
 
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